Aston Villa will face Club Brugge away from home in the first leg of the Champions League group stage at 00:45 Beijing time (CEST) on 9 September. Villa manager Unai Emery attended a pre-match press conference on Monday evening, providing the latest update on the team's injury situation and reflecting on Villa's start to the season compared to the previous campaign.

Villa's Personnel Update

Player injuries are normal for me. There are no personnel changes, and although we only have two players per position, some young players are working hard to fulfil their potential, like George Hemmings, who has performed outstandingly.

Other players may be injured, and we must be prepared to replace them. João Gomes is now available after serving a suspension in the last Premier League match.

Goretzka's injury is indeed somewhat disappointing, but we have players who can replace him, such as Ross Barkley, Gomes, Bogarde, and Kamara. When Goretzka returns, we hope he can maintain consistent training and match fitness. We can integrate his experience into the team because when we signed him, we valued the extensive experience he brings—he is a player capable of showing his qualities across different competitions.

Additionally, new signing Manzambi is recovering well but is not yet available to play.

On Villa's Return to the Champions League

Of course, we are very motivated and excited to compete in this competition. Generally, it is wonderful to play in European competition!

We previously competed in the Europa Conference League, even played in the Champions League two years ago, and achieved success in the Europa League last season. Returning to the Champions League is an outstanding achievement in itself. Seeing how we achieved this allows us to continue to be proud of our performance. Last season, we finished fourth in the league and won the Europa League.

But this is a new chapter, and it is completely different. When we came to Villa, our vision was to set the highest standards, but we did not expect to compete in European competitions for four consecutive years, let alone reach the Champions League twice.

The early work was indeed very challenging, but this is a vision developed with the club's ownership. At the same time, we set high standards for the players, asking them to strive to achieve their goals, and we are now doing that. This is the moment to reflect: why are we here, and how did we get here. Today, we enter a new phase, a new chapter, and we will play as we have done over the past three years.

Of course, over the past three years, we have continuously improved, gradually building a strong foundation, reaching our current level, competing in Europe, winning trophies, and gaining great satisfaction from our competitive level.

The vision we have now is the same as my previous thinking and consistent with the club's vision. We have set goals for the coming years, including goals starting today, this season, and for next year.

How can we maintain this level again? Some players need to be adjusted, especially key players. But this year we have replaced these key players, and last year as well, but the adjustments were not as significant as this year, because this summer's transfer window has seen more personnel changes than before.

But we are gradually replacing those key players. We have experienced players, like Buendía, who deserve to remain in the team and must now take on more responsibility, and we must work to leverage the experience of our current players.

Of course, we have also brought in many new experienced players, like Goretzka. Additionally, there are some young players from other clubs, such as Garnacho, Mbaye, Jackson, and others. They are also new signings, and we must quickly adapt them tactically and ideologically while integrating them into our system. We will do our best to help them adapt to their new environment so they feel comfortable and confident in our system.

I am not sure how long it will take—that is not something I am thinking about right now. I intend to give everything and fight as hard as possible in every match.

We prioritize our performance in the Premier League at the end of the season, because through it, we can achieve the goals we set each year, and we continue to improve. It is not yet good enough, because our current results are not ideal. Tomorrow will be a new test, a European test, a Champions League away match against a team like Club Brugge.

Club Brugge also plays well; they have faced us three times in two years and have shown us their strength. Different manager, different players; some players are repeating their previous performances, while we also have new players, a new lineup, plus the difficulty of European competition—all these factors are in play.

Tomorrow we must focus, respect our opponent, work hard, and the entire team must strive to perform at our best. I think our overall performance improved slightly in the last league match against Hull City, and individually there was also improvement. Achieving progress in both aspects is our challenge.

Comparing This Season to Last Season

I do not like to compare too much; after all, the situation is different each year, and the start is also different, but it is normal to face situations like this at the beginning of the season, because fundamentally they are similar.

Last year, we started very poorly but gradually improved, and eventually performed very well throughout the season, but it is not easy to repeat such results. Last season, we had a slow start in the Premier League, then won at home against Bologna in the Champions League, after which we began to improve, continued to progress, and then won many matches in a row.

Of course, this is just one example, one experience, which I think we can learn from. We must be enthusiastic, but at the same time, we must be clear about the effort required and prepare as well as possible for every match.

Playing away tomorrow is always more difficult. We have some experience playing away in European competitions at Villa—we played away in the Europa Conference League three years ago, then Champions League away matches, and also faced away challenges in the Europa League last season.

Last year when we lost away to Go Ahead Eagles, perhaps at that time we felt we were favourites to win, but in European matches, being the favourite can be a danger. In short, you must respect everything, you must do your best to prepare for every match, and you must also cope with the away atmosphere.

We have another experience: two years ago, we lost 0-1 away to Club Brugge, where our performance was not ideal, and we did not play as we should have. This is experience, and every experience helps us understand how difficult tomorrow's match will be.

Diterjemahkan oleh AI.

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